Vending-machine.



R. D. H. ANDERSON.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-16, 1907.

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IHVEN'TOR @MJJ ATTORNE VHF NORRIS PETERS 50.. WASHINGTON. 0. c4

PATENTED NOV. 19. 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1 PATENTED NOV. 19, 1907. R. D. H. ANDERSON.

VENDING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 16 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Li s O I WITNESSES. L INVENTDR RTTORNEY .c. 1n: nonms FaTER 20.. WASMYNGJJN. n

PATBNTED Nov. 19, 1907.

R. D. H. ANDERSON. VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED June, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

HTS-11E- INVENTDR WW ATTORNE Y PATENTED NOV. 19, 1907.

R. D. H. ANDERSON. VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JANJB, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

7/ INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNE SEES:

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\ UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT D. H. ANDERSON, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

VE NDING-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

lTo all whomit may concern: Beit'knownthat I, ROBERT D. H. ANDER- soN, a citizen of the United States of Amera specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in vending machines, and

- more particularly to a coin-controlled machine for vending merchandise, and its chief object is to provide a vending machine which, when actuated by the insertion therein of a coin and the subsequent manipulation of a lever or, the like, automatically discharges or delivers the article of merchandise or vendible, commodity purchased. v A further object is to provide a machine of the character mentioned adapted for containing a variety of art'cles of merchandise "or vendible commodities and having a plurality [of separate com-slots or passages therein and coinecontrolled mechanism connected with each slot or passage whereby a plurality of coins simultaneously deposited in different slots or passages automatically act to dis- I I charge aplurality of said articles upon once manip'ulatingsaid lever or other actuating eviee.

A' further object is to provide a vending machine of the character mentioned having contained therein or associated therewith mechanism whereby an additional or premium article such as an article of merchandise or a check redeemable in merchandise, is occasionally automatically delivered. And a still; further object is to provide a, vending machine of the above-mentioned character having" means for indicating the person to whom thepremium article delivered belongs,

- as when a plurality of persons deposit coins in separate coin-slots of the machine at one time. Q I

I With theseand other objects in view, the invention finally consists in the particular construction, arrangement and combination of parts which will hereinafter be fully described, reference being herein had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- F ig'ure l is a rear elevation of a vending machine constructed according to my invention, the major portion of the rear wall thereof being broken away to show certain details ofconstruction of the inclosed parts, as will hereinafter be explained; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing certain features of construction of the actuating mechanism which intervene between the coin-controlled mechanism and the delivery mechanism; Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-section of the machine, showing certain details of the delivery mechanism; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional detail View, further illustrating said delivery mechanism; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view, showing in pers ective a modified formation of delivery mec ianism; Fig. 6 is a View somewhat similar to Fig. 4, but illustrating a premium-article delivery mechanism; Fig. 7 is a fra mentary detail view showing in VQI'tiCcT and transverse section the delivery mechanism illustrated in Fig. 5; and-Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the premium-article ejecting slide shown in Fig. 6.

As herein illustrated, I employ in my machine, in connection with the novel delivery mechanism, the common and well-know1i coin-controlled mechanism, as well as the lever and lever-actuated mechanism, of an ordinary check-paying gambling slot-machine. Among the well-known features of the machine may be pointed out the coin-receiving and holding slides 1, to which the coins deposited in the coin-slots (not shown) drop, and which, when individually or collectively depressed in the usual manner, serve, through the intermediate mechanisms, to elevate the free end or ends of the arm or arms 2, each of which projects rearwardly through a clevis-shaped member 3, raising the latter, and consequently, through the mechanism intervening between the member 3 and a plunger-restoring member 4, withdrawing said member 4 from movement-restraining relation with the ordinary plungers 5 and releasing a hook (not shown) from interlocking engagement with one of the plungers 5. A revoluble roller 6 is actuated by the depression of the slide 1 to move rearward upon a pivoted lever 7, depressing the point and elevating the rear end of the latter and, consequently, elevating the horizontal arm of abell-crank 8 to which said rear end is connected, this action withdrawing the jaw 9 carried by the lower extremity of the vertical arm of said bell-crank from interlocking engagement with the lug 10 carried by the lever-slide 1]. The lever 12 is thereby freed so that it may be readily moved downward or depressed upon the application of the requisite power to the handle 13 which stands outside the casing 14. As the said lever is depressed, it carries therewith, through the medium of a series of levers connected thereto, against the tension of a plurality of springs and against the pressure of air in aircylinders 15 and 16, a pivoted pawl 17 the point of which, when the limit of its downward movement is reached, stands in engagement with a tooth of a peripl'ierally-toothed wheel or disk 18 which is rigidly carried by the rear face of a relatively larger wheel or disk 19 having peripheral teeth 20 and also havingtherein adjacent to its peripheral edge a plurality of perforations 21, said perforations beingso arranged that, when the disk 19 stands at rest with the interlocking tooth 22 in engagement with a tooth 20 thereof, one perforation and one only stands directly in front of said plungers 5, admitting of the passage therethrough of the plunger in line therewith, provided said plunger has been previously released by the withdrawal of the hook associated therewith, as hereinbefore described. As is obvious, and as is well known, only the plunger having connection in the manner here1n-' before mentioned with the slide in which the coin has been deposited is so released. A series of cooperating levers 23 and 24 are interposed between the plungers 5 and the check-holding receptacle 25 whereby one or more checks are delivered from said receptacle through a chute 26 to a suitable pocket 27 when a plunger 5 moves inward through a perforation 21 in the disk 19.

l/Vhen the operating lever 12 is depressed, the arm 28 bearing the tooth 22 is raised in a manner well understood, allowing a pivoted lug 29 to drop into supporting engagement therewith, said lug supporting said tooth 22 out of engagement with the teeth of the disk 19 until the upper end of the slotted bar 30 carried downward with the lever 12 engages and elevates the arm 31 as said bar rises on its return movement, said arm 31 being operatively connected to said lug 29 and being swung back by said arm 31 from supporting engagement with the arm 28, allowing the latter to drop. At the limitof the down ward movement of the operating lever, the arm or lever 32 hearing the pawl 17 is released, and, actuated by the coil-spring 33 connected-to said lever 32, the latter immediately jumps back to its normal elevated. position, carrying therewith the pawl and, since said pawl engages a lower tooth of the disk 18, actuating said disk 18 and the disk 19 attached thereto to revolve rapidly.

As previously stated, the above-described parts are old and well known in check-paying gambling slot-machines, but said parts enter into the construction of the present vendingmachine in such manner as to perform not only their usual or normal functions, but also other and novel functions as well and their general arrangement and operation have therefore been briefly explained herein not only in order that the cooperation and association thereof with the novel features of construction may be more fully understood, but also with a view of enabling others to comprehend the novel results attained by such association. It will be understood, however, that various component parts, which it is not considered necessary to mention in connec tion with the hereinbefore described mechanism, and having important and. necessary functions, enter into the construction of the machine.

Proceeding now to describe the merchandise-delivery mechanism, 34 indicates a suitably mounted horizontal support or merchandise-holding base located preferably near the rear wall of the casing 14. Said base may be of any appropriate character, consisting, preferably, of a narrow bar 35 having a plurality of spaced forwardlyeXtending fingers 36. Mounted vertically upon said support or base 34 is a plurality of merchandise-receptacles 37 in which the articles of merchandise are stacked in super: posed relation, receptacles containing packages 38 of chewing gum being illustrated in Figs. 1, 3', 4, 5 and 7, the machine being ariicularly adapted for the vending of gooc s of this character. ceptacle containing a plurality of compartments spaced apart tocorrespond to the spacing of the fingers 36 might readily be employed, as shown in Fig. 1. The receptacles or compartments 37 are made of such a width that the opposite bottom ends thereof stand upon adjacent fingers. The bottoms of said receptacles are open except that oppositely disposed rests 39 are provided as supports for the merchandise.

Extending transversely directly underneath the support or base 34 and having its ends suitably journaled, as at 40, is a shaft As is obvious, one large re 41 having rigidly mounted thereon a plur ality of forks- 42 which are spaced. in conformity to the spacing of the fingers '36, said forks being located on the shaft to operate between adjacent fingers. The forks are so arranged relatively that they stand directed'at an angle to each other corresponding to the circumference of a circle divided by their number. Consequently, as the shaft 41 rotates, but one fork is brought into operative or ejecting relation to the merchandise at a time, but all of said forks are alternately brought into such relation in a complete revolution of said shaft. Said forks are made of such a length as to admit of their reaching behind and discharging or ejecting but one package 38 of gum, or other article, as the case may be, at a time, the fork entering the lower end of the receptacle 37 directly behind the lowermost package and forcing it out through a suitable passage 43 provided for the. purpose in the front flanges 44 thereof. The discharged package slides over a suitably arranged guide 45 to a tapered inclined chute 84 which leads to and directs the package to a suitably located pocket 46 on the outer front face of the casing 14.

As a means for communicating motion to the shaft 41, a ratchet-disk 47 is fixed upon the shaft, which ratchet has peripheral ratchet-teeth corresponding in number to the number of coin-slots and, consequently, to the number of merchandise receptacles and ejecting forks. Suitably connected to the ordinary slotted yoke 48 carried by the lower extremity of the piston rod 49 of the air-cylinder 15, to be depressed thereby when the said rodis lowered by the depression of the lever 12, is a lever 50 which is pivotally attached at its lower end to one end of a lever 51 pivotally mounted intermediate its ends and carrying a pivoted pawl 52 on its opposite end. Said pawl 52 is normally held in a suitable manner, as by a spring 53, in engagement with the ratchet 47. As is obvious, when the lever .50 is thrust downward by the lowering of the lever 12, as just mentioned, the pawl '52 is thereby actuated to rotate said ratchet forward slightly, as is clearly shown in dotted lines in Fig. 41. The retrac tion of the pawl is effected through the intermediate levers by the return of the piston rod 419 to its normal position.

As is apparent, the delivery mechanism hereinbefore described is not adapted for effecting the simultaneous delivery of a plurality of articles of merchandise even though coinsbe simultaneously deposited in two or more of the coin-slides. For attaining such a result, I prefer to employ the modified formation of delivery mechanism illusi rated in Figs. 5 and 7 the construction and operation of which forms subject-matter of the next succeeding paragraph.

A shaft 41 underlying the receptacles 37 has its ends fixed at opposite sides of the casing 14,. and revolubly mounted on said shaft beneath each receptacle is a sleeve 54 having fixed or keyed thereon at each end a toothed wheel 55 and a ratchet disk 56, the

, latter being located at a point intermediate said wheels 55., The teeth 57 of said wheels 55 are adapted to enter the lower end of a receptacle 37 when the'ratchet disk fixed on the sleeve 541 is rotated and to force a pack age 38, or other article contained therein, from saidreceptacle in precisely the same manner as is done by the forks 4.2 hereinbefore described. It will be noted that the shaft 11 is non-rotatable and that the sleeves 54 are independently rotatable upon said shaft. Asa means for individually rotating said sleeves for causing the toothed wheels 55 to eject the merchandise, a rod 58 having its ends fixed to the outer ends of pivoted levers or arms 5] is mounted transversely at a suitable point, said rod having fixed thereon a plurality of forwardlydi rected arms 59, each of which has pivotally connected to its outer end a rod 60 which is vertically movable through suitable guides or a guide such as a horizontally disposed bar 61 having its ends attached to the casing 14, each rod being movable directly in the rear of the ratchet disk 56, as shown in Fig. 7.

livoted to the opposite end of an arm or lever 51" is the lower end of the lever 50 hereinbefore mentioned. As is obvious, with each depression of the lever 12, the rods 60 are, tlirough the intermediate mechanism just described, thrust vertically upward past the ratchet-disks 56, as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

Pivotally attached to and depending from the free end of each of the arms 2 of the coinoperated mechanism is a rod 62 having a horizontal forwardly-directed hook or foot 63 upon its lower end, as shown. At a suitable point in said rod 62 is provided a compound bend 64 which causes the lower end or foot 63 to normally stand slightly in the rear of the ratchet disk 56 and out of the path of movement of the rod 60. A suitably mounted arm 65 has a guide-eye 66 therein in which said rod 62 stands, said arm 65 be ing located to hold said rod 62, when the latter occupies its normal position, at a point above and adjacent to the bend 64. hen a coin is deposited in one of the slides 1 and said'slide is depressed, elevating the free end of the arm 2 connected therewith, the rod 62 is thereby elevated, and, through the medium of coacting stationary guide-arm 65 and the bond 64, the lower end of the rod 62 is thrust forward behind one of the teeth of the ratchet disk 56 in a manner well understood. In this position the heel of the foot 63 is engaged by the rod 60 upon the depression of the operating lever 12 and said foot is thereby thrust upward, imparting to said ratchet disk and the sleeve 54 a partial rotation which effects the ejectment of the merchandise. A slot 67 provided in the upper end of the rod 62 admits of the elevation of said rod without derangement of the parts composing the coin-controlled mechanism. Owing to the fact that separate discharging means connected with the different eoin slides 1 are employed in the mechanism just described, a number of coins simultaneously deposited in different coin-slides will, through said means, effect the simultaneous delivery of an equal number of articles of merchandise.

Associated, preferably, with the machine as hereinbcforc described is a second delivery mechanism which will hereinafter be termed a premium-delivery mechanism, said mechanism being adapted to occasionally operate to deliver an article of merchandise, which article will hereinafter be termed the pre- &

mium or premium-article, the objectbeing to legitimately promote the sale of the vendible merchandise contained by the machine.

Referring particularly to Fig. 6 in which the premium-delivery mechanism is clearly illustrated and in which cigars are shown as the prernium-articles'ernployed, 68 indicates a suitable inclined premium holding receptacle having a chute 69 leading vertically therefrom and terminating at an appropriate distance above a table 70, adjacent to the rear edge of which is the mouth 71 of an inclined chute 72 leading to a pocket 73 which may be the same pocket to which the vendible articles of merchandise are delivered, as hereinbefore described, or which may be a separate pocket. Slidably mounted upon said table 7 0 directly under the lower end of the chute 69. is a premium-ejecting slide 74 having therein a slot 75 which normally registers with the open lower end of said chute 69 and is adapted for holding therein one of the premium articles 76.

Pivotally connected to the end of an arm 77 carried by the slide 74 is the lower end of a substantially vertical lever 78 which is pivoted intermediate its ends to a supporting arm 80, as at 79, and has its opposite end attached to one of the plungers 5. When the revoluble disk 19, after having been actuated to revolve in a manner hereinbefore explained, stops with a perforation 21 in direct line with the plunger 5 to which the lever 78 is attached, said plunger, actuated by the usual springs 81, moves forward into said perforation, provided it has been previously released by the withdrawal of the hook associated therewith, which release is effected, as hereinbefore described, by de positing a coin in and the subsequent depression of the coin-slide 1. l/Vhen said plunger thus moves forward, it swings the lever 78 on its pivot 79 and forces the slide 74 rearward to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6, whence the premium-article 76 contained within the slot 75 of the slide 74 is permitted to drop into the mouth 71 of the chute 72. It will be noted that the premium-delivery mechanism above described is duplicated as often as there are coin-slots and plungers in the machine, and that the separate premium-delivery mechanisms are separate and distinct.

When the premium-delivery mechanism is employed, it is desirable that the various mouths of the coin-slots bear distinguishing marks or characters and that a disk 82, bearing on its face adjacent to its peripheral edge corresponding distinguishing marks or char acters, corresponding in number to the perforations in the disk 19, and having associated therewith a suitable finger or indicator for indicating the perforation 21 in the disk 19 which stands in front of the plungers 5, or, rather, for indicating the plunger that has entered a perforation in said disk, be provided on the front face of said disk to revolve therewith, as in the ordinary checkpaying slot-machine hereinbefore mentioned, said disk 82 being located directly behind a sight-glass 83 provided in the front face of the casing. Such a provision of designating marks or characters in connection with the coin-slots and the revoluble disk 82 indicates whom among a plurality of persons simultaneously depositing coins in the various coinslots is entitled to a delivered premiumarticle. But one person may obtain a premium article at a time, and the delivered premiumarticle, as is evident, is the property of the person who deposited his coin in the slot whose designating character corresponds to that on which the indicator, previously mentioned, has stopped. This designating and distinguishing mechanism, as hereinbefore stated, is that commonly employed in slot-machines, and is therefore not herein explained indetail, forming, as it does, no novel part of this machine.

It will be noted that the machine may be arranged either for delivering checks redeemable in merchandise as premiums, employing the usual check-delivery mechanism partially illustrated in Fig. 1 and briefly referred to herein, or premium-articles of intrinsic value, employing the mechanism shown in Figs. 6 and 8 and herein described.

While the major portion of the mechanism of an ordinary form or type of ambling machine is employed in this ven ing machine, -.it will be understood that in my said vending machine the element of chance is eliminated, thus removing it from the gambling machine class. The article of merchandise purchased'by the deposit of a coin in the machine is in every case delivered to the 'depositor. While the delivery of premium-articles is purely one of chance, yet

this feature is employed merely to promote the legitimate sale of the vendible merchandise.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a vending machine, a plurality of merchandise receptacles, an actuating lever, means interposed between said lever and each of said receptacles whereby a depression of the former discharges an article of merchandise from one of the latter, mechanism for releasing said lever, a plurality of premium receptacles, a revoluble disk having .perforations therein, a plurality of plungers associatedwith said disk, means for releasing one of said plungers, and means intermediate said plungers and said premium receptacles whereby a premium article is discharged from the latter upon the entrance of the released plunger in a perforation in said disk.

2.1n a vending machine, a plurality of merchandise hoppers, means for discharging merchandise from said hoppers, a plurality of premium hoppers, a revoluble perforated dis ,a plurality of plungers associated With said disk for entrance in said perforations thereof, means for releasing one of the plungers, and means operated by the entrance of said plungers in said disk perforations to discharge premiums from said premium hopers. I

p 3. In a vending machine, a plurality of merchandise hoppers, means for discharging merchandise-from said hoppers, a revoluble perforated disk actuated by the operation of said discharging means, premium hoppers, and discharging means for said premium hoppers normally engaged with the unperforated parts of said disk and adapted when entering the perforations thereof to operate said premium discharging means.

4.. In a Vending machine, a plurality of merchandise hoppers, means for discharging merchandise from said hoppers, a revoluble l perforated element actuated by the operation of said discharging means, plungers adapted to enter said perforations of said element, premium hoppers, slides controlling the discharge of the latter, and pivoted levers con nected at their ends to said plungers and to said slides.

5. In a vending machine, merchandise hoppers, discharging means therefor, premium hoppers, discharging means therefor, and means set in operation by actuation of said merchandise discharging means for controlling said premium discharging means, said third named means, normally abutting and retaining said premium discharging means against discharging position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ROBERT D. H. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

H. E. DUNLAP, E. A. LENKARD. 

